Tear Stained Dirt
by NeonLit
Summary: Hinata is forced to deal with the loss of her husband, Naruto Uzumaki in the aftermath of an assasination. Heavy angst, NaruHina, ShikaTema and SasuSaku, set 8 years post chapter 700.


This is a short oneshot that I wanted to write, but waited till someone presented me with a prompt. I really want to deal with Boruto's reaction so I'm gonna get into it in another fic. Don't worry, I'll still be working on Dark and Weird. So here it is.

* * *

><p>It's been so many years of peace that Hinata Uzumaki has forgotten what it's like to see a funeral procession for the death of a shinobi in battle. The last one was many years ago, her own cousin Neji and that was painful enough for her to remember.<p>

However, the funeral today has hit her even harder, maybe more intensely than that of her cousin. Her love has fallen in an underhanded, cowardly attack. Naruto had been venturing to the outskirts of the elemental nations with Shikamaru, chasing rumours of hidden clans, hoping to integrate them into the peaceful society they had helped mould. Many called him crazy, insisting there was nothing outside the elemental nations, merely barren lands that were nigh uninhabitable. How wrong they were.

Of course, even in his role as Hokage, Naruto hadn't been able to turn down the rumour. Despite how much he'd grown up, he still retained his smile, his playfulness, his love for life. Even reminiscing on it now brings a tear to the lady's quivering amethyst eyes. Years of his voice echoes through her mind, that beautiful man who'd she'd love for so long.

Gently, she wipes the tear away. She needs to stay strong for the children despite her aching heart, despite her wanting to tell them that things might not be okay. It hurts her so much to see the tears streaming down the face of Himawari, and the look of stoic anger brewing on Boruto's face. A face so like his fathers, yet so different in so many ways. And worst of all, the small child in her arms, barely able to comprehend what was happening, only that her father was not coming home.

Again, her mind goes back to the events that led to the current misery.

Upon their arrival on the outskirts of the nations, Naruto and Shikamaru, along with their ANBU guards had been greeted by a small group of well-dressed shinobi, who whilst cold, had welcomed them to their village. That night, they had celebrated with the villagers, having much to eat and drink with an agreement being settled between the village to join the union.

If only they'd realised the agreement was far too easy to arrive at.

As they left the village the following morning, Shikamaru had complained to Naruto about being sluggish, something that wasn't necessarily all that out of the ordinary for him, so Naruto had shrugged it off as Shikamaru not being a morning person and they'd pushed onwards to the next nation, making slow progress through the thick forests.

It happened around midday.

The ambush by the previous day's village was quick to the drugged reflexes of the group and Naruto had been the first to fall with a near silent arrow piercing his heart, quickly followed by one to the jugular. The tips were also laced with a paralytic poison causing him to fall hard and dislodge the arrow, letting him bleed freely. Shikamaru had fared a little better, managing to take out two of the opposing force before taking several arrows to the chest. One of the ANBU members were thankfully a vegetarian and had not participated in the feasting, and managed to quickly escape with the two mens bodies, and it was assumed that the others were also murdered.

A small sob slips past Hinata's lips.

Her one love, the one person she'd always believed in was gone so quickly, without even saying goodbye.

She'd wanted to grow old together, not bare the weight of another death on her shoulders.

Slowly, the procession arrives and Hinata, along with the children and they're seated next to Temari and the furiously sobbing Shikadai, his eyeliner has streaked so badly that it looks like he's smeared warpaint across his face, in the vein of his uncle. Hinata makes eye contact with Temari, who as always has a cool, calm demeanour, which looks so close to breaking that she can barely take it. Reaching out, Hinata takes Temari's hand and squeezes it tight in hers, and is rewarded with a small nod from the woman.

When everyone is finally seated, the funeral begins, with various members of the village and other nations coming forwards to talk about the two men. Gaara speaks at length about how much Naruto changed the world and begins to silently tear up halfway through the speech, at which point Kankuro escorts him from the stage. Kakshi talks in a very calm, albeit it memorable speech, reminiscing on Naruto's early years as a shinobi. In an odd turn of events, Lee tries to make a speech about youth, but is so completely wracked with grief that he says about three words and collapses, before being helped off stage by Tenten, who murmurs something about how stupid he is.

Then comes Hinata's turn and she slowly stands, the veil covering her eyes hiding the streaming tears, but she's determined to do this, for the memory of her beloved husband.

Her speech starts slowly, talking about her first encounters with Naruto as children, and his arrogance, which brings a few smiles to the audience, levity through the grief. She laments about their early years as shinobi, how she watched him grow from a prankster into a overconfident teen, to a wise leader of men. The story flows into the Invasion of Pain, the Kage summit, and the Shinobi war. Several pauses are made as the pain wells up inside her chest, but it doesn't halt her as she builds up into describing his ascent to the position of Hokage and his love for his children. Her eyes focus on the three children sitting in the front row, tears running down their adolescent faces, although Boruto is trying to hold it back with all of his might.

When she finishes her speech, nearly everyone is crying, be they young or old, male or female. Only one member of the audience seems to be holding off his emotions. Sasuke Uchiha, the last speaker for Naruto. As you pass each other, he squeezes your shoulder so quickly that you barely feel it.

His speech is completely different to yours.

He speaks of bonds.

His speaks of friendship and ties.

And he speaks of the best friend he ever had, the one who filled the hole left by the death of his family.

By the end, his voice has dropped so quiet that the front row can barely hear him, the microphone struggling to pick up his words. He clenches at his chest, before screaming out loud, and sinking to his knees.

In an instant, Sakura is on the stage, her arms around him, holding him close, whispering to him, kissing his face and in a detached way Hinata wishes it were her consoling Naruto at Sasuke's funeral, not the other way around.

The next round of speeches revolve around Shikamaru, and Temari makes a short speech about how that bastard shouldn't have died, how he'd failed the one simple thing she asked him not to do. Her speech cracks her voice and it ricochets through the crowd, the mood dropping even lower.

When the coffins are lowered into the ground, the silence is deafening, everyone watching their beloved Hokage and his brilliant adviser finally being returned to the earth.

The children leave with Sakura, and soon all that's left is Hinata and Temari, standing in front of their respective partners grave, tears dripping onto the freshly upturned earth. Temari leaves after an hour, giving Hinata a small pat on her back.

The hours pass as Hinata quietly talks to herself, before she slumps to the ground, knees biting into the dirt.

It's morning before someone comes to her side, Boruto, but before he can take her home, she says one last thing to the grave.

"I'll always love you Naruto-kun."


End file.
